850 t Automatic locked into park (shifter OK)

smoggyama · Post by **smoggyama** » 16 Nov 2016, 19:10

To elaborate: I heard a clunk while driving. I quickly park the car. The shifter acts normal and I can feel the engine engaged as I go through the gears, but the front wheels are locked as if its in park. I lift the front two wheels and they will rotate in the forward direction but not reverse. I cleaned the PnP and no change was effected. No CEL or codes. What's my problem? I also fiddled with the ignition switch. Sometimes I hear the clicking of the relay in the center console. Anyone have experience with this?

Post by **tryingbe** » 16 Nov 2016, 19:12

You have a broken transmission.

smoggyama · Post by **smoggyama** » 16 Nov 2016, 19:18

Tryingbe, That somehow concurs with the symptoms. Any ideas about what's broken?

Post by **tryingbe** » 16 Nov 2016, 19:23

Without taking the transmission apart, I'm not sure if anyone can tell you.

There is a shifter cable that goes from the shifter to the transmission, but it sounds like it is working fine judging from "I can feel the engine engaged as I go through the gears", so it's something inside the transmission that broke.

I have a working Volvo trans for $40 but I'm in Phoenix.

http://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/pts/5874453489.html

smoggyama · Post by **smoggyama** » 16 Nov 2016, 19:45

Thanks anyway.

Post by **polskamafia mjl** » 16 Nov 2016, 23:42

Pay Robert to make that drive for you.

Post by **cn90** » 17 Nov 2016, 05:55

Get a 2nd person to help.
- You stand on driver's side looking at PNP.
- Someone in the cabin moves the shifter lever and see if the PNP switch moves back and forth. This procedure checks the integrity of the cable itself.
The cable hardly ever goes bad btw.

Chances are your transmission went to Mississippi...

Post by **abscate** » 18 Nov 2016, 09:39

I think I would

Get the front end up
Confirm PnP and shifter are selecting as above
Put it into neutral.

If the wheels arent freewheeling in Neutral, I would guess the differential is locked up, but it could be in the transmission too.

Very few here tackle internal transmission repairs, most would swap out for a used one.

smoggyama · Post by **smoggyama** » 18 Nov 2016, 22:49

Yeah, I agree. Cracking open a transmission is not such a good idea unless you do it for a living. The wheels spin in opposite directions while in park. This might be a solenoid or wire to? I'm still looking. I'll follow up.

Post by **abscate** » 19 Nov 2016, 04:44

Ah. The wheels will spin in opposite directions due to the differential, that's normal.

What's not normal is that they move in Park..that means there is stuff broken in the transmission.